


We Must Become Death First

by TheBarghestsNotebook



Series: Our Common Goal is to Watch the World Burn [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Dark!Steve Rogers - Freeform, Dark!Tony Stark, Villain!AU, dark!AU, dark!bucky barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-10-01 22:16:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20422829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBarghestsNotebook/pseuds/TheBarghestsNotebook
Summary: Thins are different, here. The reaction to the darkness of the world was not to supply it with more light. Monsters are created to defeat monsters.





	We Must Become Death First

**Author's Note:**

> A new series I want to try working on. I'm not sure how to proceed from here, or how to bring everyone else in, but it's a start for now.

A bright cityscape against a dark background. Enough of a contrast to cut the sky like a knife. And enough for a one Tony Stark to see his reflection in the window. His tower was dark, the only light coming from the large sign a few floors below, bright blue and screaming his name to the heavens. He felt increasingly better in the dark, away from the flashing lights of reporters trying to get him to answer their mundane questions. Away from the noise of all those who protested him. Even now, so far below like ants on the street they gathered, screaming that he was a monster.

Their numbers had dwindled so slowly over the years. At first, no one noticed that some had gone missing. They were always the less vocal of the group, the easiest ones to scare away. Good for them for knowing that they should stay away. They were the smart ones. Some were resilient, some fought back against those who tried to persuade them. It was all nice at first, but then persuasion became threatening. And that’s when the crowd realized that it was starting to miss members. The first few days of protesting continued without a hitch, many thinking the others had gotten sick. Some continued that lie, not wanting to let on the reason why they had stayed away. But then as more and more didn’t show up, it became worrisome. Many cried out Tony was to blame for the fear, but he wasn’t hurting them in anyway. In fact, he was making them safer for not standing beneath his tower, yelling that he was a murder. Everyone knew he was a murder, everyone knew he was a monster. But the smart ones kept their heads down. The smart ones left the protests. Those who weren’t smart, well, the persuasion that became threats became actual harm. Bruises here and there. Maybe a few drops of blood. But nothing ever very serious. Just enough to dissipate the crowd a bit more.

And then came the disappearances. Never the leaders, oh, no, never the leaders. Tony didn’t want the others to rise up in their place. What was that saying that pathetic group called Hydra always had? Cut off one head, two more will grow? Well, no one had said anything about starting from the tail. Take away the army and let the leaders know that they were losing. The few left now were those who refused to back down. Tony could count them on one hand. Just think of that, the fact that the number had fallen so low over the months. The ring leaders and the right hands were the only ones left now. They had refused to back down, and they would continue to.

Well, until they were finally grounded into the pavement like the little ants they were.

“Mr. Stark.”

Tony didn’t respond, lifting his glass to his lips and taking another sip.

“The unit has been deployed.”

Good. Two would disappear tonight, Tony would personally see to them. Two in a crowd of hundreds were never noticed. But two in a group of twelve? Very easily noticed. Tony would have his fun with them. He would let them know exactly why they were so right about him.

“Dismissed, Captain Rogers.”

“Sir.”

No salute. No clicking of his boots together. Only a slight nod of his head. It wasn’t that Tony didn’t like Steve doing those things, but it was that Steve no longer cared for them. The captain stepped into the elevator and punched the number for his floor. He could have easily just have sent Tony a message, but Steve was always one for a personal touch. Maybe that’s why it showed how much he felt about everything now. The fact that he had lost so much of what he once was. Well, less lost and more actively gave it up. Let it slip through his numb fingers as the world around him continued to remind him how cruel and despicable it was. How much of a failure his nation was and no matter how much he took down those in power that led the world to ruin, there was always another behind them. It wasn’t Hydra that kept popping up, no, they were cut out, root and stem, long ago. No, it was the fact that after fighting against a corrupt government and seeing so many say they’re going to change the world for the better fall to that same corruption, that you can’t take it anymore. Sometimes, when fighting against a certain kind of corruption, you fall to a different kind of corruption. Sometimes, fighting against a monster leads you to become one.

Steve leaned against the rail of the elevator and looked out at the city. It was cold, no matter how bright the lights were. He was still so tired, tired of how many people he had to keep rooting out. But at least it was better than the alternative. Silence, secrecy, and fluidity. Nothing brash and bold. No kicking down doors, no blasting through walls, no public calling outs. No, it was always done in the shadows, in the dark that the city tried so hard to keep away with their bright lights and vibrant noise. It took time and precision. Careful planning and a delicate touch. It was a lot of effort and took a lot of planning. But, that which works is rarely easy.

The elevator doors opened and Steve stepped out onto his floor. It was less ostentatious as Tony’s floor. More homely, more inviting. A facade in and of itself. But enough of a refuge for him from the world outside. Enough of a place of rest. For both him and his brother in arms.

Bucky wasn’t there. He was always more nocturnal than anyone else in the tower. Always on the streets, hoodie and cap on. Always taking to the back allies to walk and get his energy out. Always just waiting to take on a group of thugs. The number of people were dwindling for him beat. At first, there were so many, too many for him to get through in one night. They were so easy for him to break. That’s why he did it. Everything had to be a challenge for him. Ever since he fell from that train, everything was an uphill battle. Coming back to some hollow version of himself, reuniting with Steve, coming to an agreement with Tony. Everything had been a challenge, from fighting the enemy to forging a new life. It was exhausting. But, in the back allies, against thugs and gangs and people who never really understood what proper training and torture could do to you, most of them didn’t stand a chance. He was disheartened when he found those ex-warriors, those mutants who were built for surviving, but he kept at it. He got better, as he always did. And soon he was able to have that easy battle he always wanted. Just something to help him sleep.

But just as how Tony had caused the number of protesters to dwindle over time, so had Bucky with his pickings. It was harder and harder to find prey. They were scattering like rats, going deeper, going farther away. But they couldn’t stop his hunt. Bucky needed this, needed this to help him sleep. Needed this to remember that he was a weapon that no one could stop. He had been rattled by both Steve and Tony, rattled that he couldn’t beat them. And so he needed something to remind himself that he was still a top dog, something to remind himself that all those years of training and torture hadn’t gone to waste. Such a depressing thing to think about, really. He was turned into a weapon and that’s all he was going to be.

In reality, that was all that any of them were going to be.


End file.
